HOME PAGE: No matter what your political views might be... One thing is for certain. In these days of fast news and even faster life styles... We all seem to have forgotten those moments in history that so abruptly and tragically changed this beloved Country of ours... 9/11… How soon we forget…

If correct... Today’s Spacewalk by Astronauts Bowen and Drew should begin sometime around 10:15am CST............................................................................

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- 10:30am CST -

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With Spacewalk Preparations Ahead of Schedule,spacewalkers Steve Bowen and Alvin Drew were 45 minutes ahead of schedule earlier today in their preparations for the first of two STS-133 spacewalks. They were targeted to begin their excursion at 10:18am CST but got started off about a half hour early.

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Alvin Drew is the 200th human to perform a spacewalk, his first. This is Steve Bowen’s sixth spacewalk. The first STS-133 spacewalk began at 10:46am EST.

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Bowen, EV-1, is the lead spacewalker and is wearing a suit with red stripes, while Drew, EV-2, wears an all-white spacesuit. Bowen’s helmet camera displays the number 19 and Drew’s the number 20.

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Bowen and Drew will install the J612 power extension cable in preparation for Tuesday’s attachment of the Permanent Multipurpose Module to the Unity node. Next, they will move an 800 pound failed pump module to External Stowage Platform 2 on the outside of the Quest airlock, where it will remain until it can be returned to Earth at a future time. They will install a camera wedge on the right hand truss segment to give the camera added clearance now that Express Logistics Carrier-4 is attached to the station. After that, they will move further down the right hand truss to the solar alpha rotary joint where they will affix two extensions to the station’s mobile transporter track, which will allow the transporter to travel the entire track length with the Crew Equipment Translation Aid cart and still reach all of the many worksites. They also will open and fill a metal cylinder with the vacuum of space, part of a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency activity called “Message in a Bottle.” The bottle will be returned to Earth for public display.

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Discovery Mission Specialist Nicole Stott is inside the International Space Station, choreographing the activities and coordinating communications between the spacewalkers and Mission Control in Houston. Station Commander Scott Kelly and Discovery Mission Specialist Mike Barratt will operate the station’s 58-foot long robotic arm to maneuver the pump module and other hardware during the spacewalk.

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This is the 154th spacewalk supporting assembly and maintenance of the space station and the 234th excursion conducted by U.S. astronauts.

..Click it all out LIVE at link below..........................................

About above image: Mission Specialists Steve Bowen and Alvin Drew work outside the International Space Station during their first spacewalk of STS-133.

Image credit: NASATV - Monday, February 28, 2011

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- First Spacewalk of STS-133 Mission Completed -

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Mission Specialists Steve Bowen and Alvin Drew completed a six-hour, 34-minute spacewalk at4:20pm CST. This was the first of 2 scheduled spacewalks of the Discovery STS-133 mission.

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- 5:11pm CST -

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Crew Notified of Mission Extension

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At 5:00pm EST, International Space Station Capcom Stan Love notified station Commander Scott Kelly and Discovery Commander Steve Lindsey that the “plus one” day is approved – a mission extension day – primarily for outfitting the Permanent Multipurpose Module. They still are awaiting a formal decision on a Soyuz fly around which will be made Tuesday at the space station Mission Management Team meeting.

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Above info and images from the NASA.gov website

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Special note: Second Spacewalk will take place this Wednesday but as of right now I haven’t a clue as to what time it will begin. I'll let you know as soon as I find out...

The combined crews of Space Shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station awoke at 7:23 a.m. EST to the song “Java Jive” by Manhattan Transfer, played for shuttle Commander Steve Lindsey.

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The crew will spend much of the day transferring supplies from Discovery to the space station and preparing for Monday’s spacewalk. They also will move the Orbiter Boom Sensor System from the side of Discovery’s cargo bay to the end of the shuttle robotic arm, clearing a pathway to transport the Permanent Multipurpose Module from Discovery to the station later in the mission.

Space Shuttle Discovery has reached orbit and is on its way to the International Space Station. "Good to be here," Discovery Commander Steve Lindsey radioed soon after the three main engines shut off and the external fuel tank was jettisoned.

Space Shuttle Discovery rode a brilliant trail of fire and smoke Thursday afternoon as it soared into orbit for an important mission to the International Space Station. The launch came after a last-minute technical glitch with the Air Force's Eastern Range that left only four seconds in the launch window and a practical limit of two seconds because of draining requirements with the external fuel tank.

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"It was one more second than Mike Leinbach (shuttle launch director) needed to get the job done, so there was plenty of margin," said Mike Moses, chairman of the Mission Management Team. Still, he joked, "I could use a little less heart palpitations in the final seconds of the countdown."

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Leinbach said launch simulations have conditioned the team of controllers to handle the pressures of last-second "go" decisions without jeopardizing a mission.

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"This was one for the record books," Leinbach said. "It may have seemed a little rushed to people on the outside. It's a testament to the team that we have practiced for this."

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The launch of the shuttle was not the only thing to happen in space exploration on launch day. Just as Discovery's tank finished being fueled, a cargo-carrying Automated Transfer Vehicle from the European Space Agency docked to the station. The spacecraft, which carried no people, launched from South America last week on an Ariane V.

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"This is a pretty tremendous day in spaceflight for us," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for Space Operations. "For us to be sitting here today with both of these events occurring as they did is pretty amazing."

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Special note:On Mission Day 5, (Monday) Brown and Drew will make the first of two scheduled Spacewalks. Second Spacewalk will be on Day 7, (Wednesday),if all goes to plan... Be sure to check back... Will be showing the whole thing live with NASA TV!

* NYTimes.com gets us started with the following report... BAGHDAD -It is a date being discussed in Iraq’s tea shops, on television and in the streets with varying shades of hope, fear and cynicism... On Friday, thousands of Iraqis are planning to take to the streets for their own “day of rage,” hoping to harness the popular anger that has swept through much of the Middle East but has failed to gain much traction here... For all the faults of Iraq’s young democracy, the government here affords people more rights than places like Egypt, Tunisia or Libya. After all, about 60 percent of Iraqi voters participated in nationwide elections last March that were widely deemed free and fair, even if they were the start of an agonizing political deadlock that left Iraq adrift for nine months...

* CNN.com Baghdad (CNN) --Iraqi activists and a gamut of groups ranging from intellectuals to unemployed workers to widows are preparing for large demonstrations Friday in al-Tahrir square in central Baghdad, along with large protests in most of Iraq's provinces... The organizers have used Facebook, Twitter and websites to circulate invitations for demonstrations on February 25, calling them the "Iraqi revolution." A Facebook page called "The Iraqi Revolution" includes still pictures and videos of previous demonstrations in Iraq and claims nearly 20,000 supporters... On Tuesday evening, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh and Baghdad military operation spokesman Gen. Qassim Atta held a joint news conference regarding the planned demonstrations... "The Iraqi government welcomes any demonstration by Iraqi people as long as it's a peaceful demonstration," said Al-Dabbagh...

* The Canadian Press had this report out Tuesday and it goes in part like this...Thousands marched in a northern Iraqi city Tuesday, demanding political reforms and an investigation of the fatal shootings of two protesters last week... The peaceful rally by 5,000 in the city of Sulaimaniyah was a sign of growing frustration with the tight control of two ruling parties over the economy and politics in the self-ruled Kurdish region... Last Thursday, hundreds of protesters inspired by successful anti-government uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt converged on the Sulaimaniyah headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which is headed by the president of the self-ruled Kurdish region. Some protesters pelted the building with stones, and security guards opened fire. Two people were killed and dozens injured...

My worries are with any Iranian influence that might lie in the underbelly of all this mess, so with that said... We can only pray that all Iranian influence stays back at home, over the border, so as not to even give it a chance to let all hell break loose with these rounds of protest. We’ll know soon enough I guess...

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

* HeraldScotland.com brings us the following report that starts off like this...Libya last night fell back on “scorched earth” tactics as the dying regime of Colonel Gaddafi ordered warplanes to bomb its own capital in an increasingly bloody bid to hang on to power... Eyewitnesses said the military was attacking Tripoli from the skies as protesters surged closer to breaking Muammar Gaddafi’s 40-year grip on power... Local resident Adel Mohamed Saleh said: “What we are witnessing is unimaginable... Warplanes and helicopters are indiscriminately bombing one area after another. There are many dead. Our people are dying. It is the policy of scorched earth. Every 20 minutes they are bombing.”...

About this News Video: The future of Libya appears to be on a knife-edge. The military's taking on the people in the streets of the capital, Tripoli, and high-level diplomats are deserting the Gaddafi regime. But now the man himself has appeared on national TV to dispel rumors that he's getting out. And that's going to make things more difficult for the mounting calls for international action... Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker reports.

About this news video: Colonel Gaddafi addressed Libya today in a televised speech and said in part that he will "die as a martyr" in the country. The above video is just a small part of this speech that seemed more like a rant that kept going on forever.

About Me

My pen name is AubreyJ... I’m 60 years young and I live in Shreveport, LA. I've been married only once and that is to the same lovely lady named Amy. (It’s hard to believe that after all these years she still claims me as hers!) Have one Daughter named Michelle and two wonderful Grandsons named David, (18) and Chase, (13). I spent most of my adult life as a Manager in the Sales and Service profession. Today I am semi-retired and spend most of my time searching for news stories and Blogging on the ones that I find news worthy. I’m a... just right of the middle... Republican, who’s 1000% Pro Victory on the War on Terror. I’m a strong supporter of the Troops and my Political Party... Even though I find myself in some disagreement, yet MAJOR disappointment with where the leaders of my Party have taken us over these last so many years. Sadly -- I still cannot find very much of anything that I agree with the Dems on these days... GOD BLESS THE TROOPS... their families and this great country of ours.
AubreyJ.........